Egypt and Ethiopia Hold Talks Over River Nile Dam

Cairo fears that an Ethiopian plan to build a huge hydropower dam on the Blue Nile, the source of most of the water reaching Egypt, will reduce its access to water. In recent weeks, tensions have risen between Cairo and Addis Ababa.

Shoukry heads to Addis Ababa to put forward proposal to break impasse in the GERD talks. Once again Egypt calls for full respect of all provisions of the Declaration of Principles. Priority to cooperate & build confidence, while preserving Egypt’s legitimate water interests

— Egypt MFA Spokesman (@MfaEgypt) December 25, 2017

As the rhetoric escalated, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s president, said the Nile was “a matter of life and death” for his country and that “no one can touch Egypt’s share of the water”. Ethiopia retorted that the dam was a matter of life and death for it, too.  Read:

RwandAir Enters Europe its Highly Ambitious Expansion Plan

RwandAir is driving its growth and connecting the country to three continents – Africa, Asia and Europe. As we move toward 2018, it’s worth noting some of the developments that lay a strong foundation for the sector and also helped position RwandAir as a key global aviation industry player.

The national carrier is planning to launch flights to New York, in the US, and other Asian destinations next year, particularly in China.

It also plans new routes to Conakry in Guinea, and Bamako, Mali, as well as Dakar in Senegal.

Other planned destinations are Lilongwe in Malawi and Durban in South Africa.

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South Sudan Enters its Fifth Year of a Civil War

South Sudan’s warring factions on Thursday signed a new agreement to cease hostilities and protect civilians in the latest effort to calm a devastating civil war.

The two sides also signed an agreement to grant humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas after days of talks in neighboring Ethiopia brokered by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional bloc.

The cease-fire begun Sunday morning.

South Sudan is entering the fifth year of a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people. Parts of the East African country, the world’s youngest nation, are on the brink of famine, and well over a million people have fled abroad, creating the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis. Read: